PISD Proposes Budget for 2011-12
August, 11 6:30 p.m. | Board of Trustees Budget Workshop |
August, 18 6 p.m. | Board of Trustees Public Budget Meeting |
August, 18 7 p.m. | Board of Trustees Regular Meeting |
Meeting agendas and minutes are available 72 hours prior to meeting time. The Board invites public comment at the public budget meeting on August 18, beginning at 6 p.m. |
The Pflugerville Board of Trustees recently heard the District’s recommendation for its 2011-12 operating budget. District leaders presented the Board with information detailing expected revenues and expenditures, with a proposed budget of nearly $154 million.
The Board set the proposed Maintenance and Operations (M&O) tax rate at $1.04, which is unchanged from last year.
The proposed Interest and Sinking (I&S) tax rate was set at 50 cents, an 8 cent increase from last year. Both proposed rates will be voted on at the August 18 Regular Board Meeting, which begins at 7 p.m.
PISD will hold a budget workshop to further discuss the proposed budget August 11, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The Board invites public comment at the public budget meeting on August 18, beginning at 6 p.m.
“I believe we have developed a budget that is student-focused and reflects the values of the PISD community,” Superintendent of Schools Charles Dupre said. “PISD continues to grow, and we will add about 500 new students in 2011-12. The cut in state funding basically means we won’t receive additional money for those new students.”
Although the District faced the added challenge of preparing for less money from the state, it proceeded with its yearly budget building process, working with each campus and department to develop PISD’s budget.
“Each year we scrub the budget, evaluate positions and programs, and do our best to ensure everything we do is focused on student achievement and providing adequate support for students and staff,” Dupre said.
“The 2010-11 school year was unique to say the least. The process of developing a budget for a district our size takes months of work, even in a regular year,” Dupre said. “The added complexity of preparing for a reduction in funding, without really knowing what type of cut we were facing, was challenging. But I am proud of the work we accomplished this year, and the way our community and staff worked to find solutions to problems not of our making.”
Class size at all three levels will remain the same as previous years - elementary school grades K-4 will be staffed at 22:1, fifth grade at 25:1, and middle and high school class sizes will remain at previous levels, around 28:1.
“We did all we could to keep cuts as far away from the classroom as possible. We heard loud and clear from parents, teachers and campus administrators that class size was the top priority,” Dupre said.
Budget Reduction Process
Through numerous meetings with parents, staff members, the Budget and Compensation Committee and the Board of Trustees, PISD leaders developed a plan to deal with the state slashing the District’s funding by as much as $20 million while preparing its budget for 2011-12. After spending much of the 2010-11 school year living with uncertainty about how much the state would reduce funding to PISD, the District in July learned its state funding would be cut by nearly $9 million. While lower than the worst-case scenario projection of $20 million, it is still a significant reduction for PISD, which is already funded at a lower rate per-student than surrounding districts.
The reduction in funding led to the elimination of some positions as the District prepared its 2011-12 budget, many of them in the District’s central administration, which provides support to teachers and administrators. Some high school teaching positions were eliminated as a result of the move to block schedule, and middle schools lost positions because of the elimination of one elective. Elementary schools lost a front office staff member.
Although originally slated to be discontinued, the District made the decision to keep its middle school soccer program because of the number of student impacted by the large team sport. Golf and cross country will be eliminated at the middle school level.
PISD will continue holding graduation at the Frank Erwin Center, a tradition it considered cutting to save money.
“Although a move to a smaller venue was considered, an unintended consequence of such a move would be limiting the number of people who could attend the event,” Dupre said. “PISD graduations average between 6,000 and 7,000 attendees, including proud family members and supportive community members. At the end of the day, the idea of spending a little more on graduation expenses rather than limiting each graduate to six or seven guests at the capstone event of their K-12 school seems like the right decision.”
The District will also continue its aggressive energy conservation program, which has saved PISD nearly $500,000 in the last three years.
“We ask all our employees to do their part to turn off lights, computers, and be conscious of their energy consumption,” Dupre said. “Changing those behaviors takes some effort, but it is a simple change that can make a dramatic difference in our bottom line.”